Monday, April 23, 2012

Marketing Monday

A lot of people are curious as to the networking secret. How do you reach all the blogger peeps to sell your book? How do you push without being overly pushy to tell them your book is awesome? I want to tell them about my series but they never let me get that far...

People who first start their blogs for the sole purpose of networking and marketing have the right idea. We all want people to read our books. We want them to devour them, talk highly of them, and share them on their own respective blogs.

There is a way to easily get started.

1. Build a platform.

If you want them to read your books, entice them to visit your blog. Blogging regularly is a great way to have repeat customers. If they're coming, they're going to tell people about you. Make sure you're not confusing them. If you write horror and you're trying to sell that fact don't have pinks and purples all throughout your blog. You want your story to carry through from the time they visit to the time they leave.

2. If you visit, they will come.

Part of networking is being involved. You need to show them your support for them to recipriocate. Even JK Rowling makes time to talk to her fans. Without them she wouldn't be who she is. Visiting blogs and leaving sweet comments lets people know you're avidly interested in what they're working on. We are a community. A support system. If you want to be a part of the community you need to be make time to connect with your fellow writers.

3. Show off your friends.

Blog friends that is. Does someone impress you? Did you love a book a fellow writer wrote and want to tell the world? Email them and ask them to be on your blog. A great way to get yourself into the blogger market is to make sure interviews, guest posts, and tips are on your blog.

It's okay to talk about your own stories and progress but it's also important to share things that have captivated you online. What keeps you reading? Stina over at Seeing Creative has fridays blocked for great posts of the week. She takes time to devour tips and tricks of the trades and brings them right to her front door step for easy access. Check out her blog... Cool links Friday is the place to be.

4. Take time to be thoughtful.

Blog post can be fun. I love to share my random thoughts and funnies of the week. However it's also important to share the knowledge you've learned. What tips do you have for writing? Do you know any conferences or sites for ARCs are? People love the skinny. What words do you struggle with and how do you overcome them? Sharing your woes of writing and the solutions keeps writers feeling less and less alone. We like to know that all of us struggle and work our way through it.

5. Have fun.

This is the most important tip. If you are not enjoying yourself and writing your posts others will notice. You're allowed to have negative posts, stressed out posts, and venting sessions. Just make sure they're mixed in with positive ones. What do you enjoy about the blogging community? What made you excited to start creating posts in the first place?

Keep the fun alive and your peeps will keep the positivity flowing.
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Blogging is a job. It's a tough one. Fun at the beginning because you're learning so many things you never thought you'd walk away with. Not so much fun when you feel it's taking away your reading and writing time. However, part of networking is to make sure you have a complete balance. No one thing should be forgotten.

So agree with this Jen. It's so important to have a platform, visit others and support their blogs, and support your blogger friends by shouting out about their good news. Blogging is work but it's also fun if you take the time to develop your blog the way you say. Thanks for sharing.

Great post. Nice to be reminded that when it's all said and done, balance is important. It's so easy to get overwhelmed. You have to do what you can do and let it be good enough, because it is. Ooooh that sounded very Zen. ;)

These are awesome tips for Cool Links. I love including posts that can help us with all areas of marketing, especially since so many of my friends are heading in that direction. Plus it's fun to give shut outs to my blogging friend. :)

I just facilitated a special interest group at the NE-SCBWI conference this weekend. Topic: blogging as platform. I started blogging to vent about subbing and build relationships. I'm glad subbing is over and now I can concentrate on blogging buddies instead!

Hi Jen! This was a great post. Lots of wonderful advice. I started my blog because I was told a writer, even unpublished, should make their presence known. I keep doing it because I found I like the connection with the bloggers, I've made some wonderful friends, and I also like helping to promote other writers.